Yes, and no. A frost blanket is a heavy row cover that is normally used for very short term cold spells. Row covers are available in lots of weights from a very lightweight one used for protection from insects, medium weights for light frost protection, and the heavy frost blankets which give protection from some cold, but don't allow enough light through to be left on the plants long term.

I'll attach a Johnny's ad where you can learn about the different kinds.

Here is a link that might be useful: Johnny's

Oldokie, I agree with Carol's yes and no answer.

All frost blankets are row covers, but not all row covers are frost blankets.

Floating row covers are classified by how much they weigh (i.e. how many ounces per square yard) and by how much freeze protection they provide (expressed in degrees Fahrenheit). Often, the manufacturer or retailer also tells you how much light transmission the row covers allow, expressed as a percentage.

I have three kinds of floating row cover in my collection right now. I have Reemay that is a spun polyester product. It weights 0.6 oz per square yard and allows 75% light transmission. Because it gives 2-4 degrees of freeze protection, I use it as a frost blanket. It is a little too heavy to use as an insect barrier, but because it is heavy, it doesn't tear easily.

I have two different weights of Agribon. I believe I have AG-15, which is the one I use as an insect barrier (0.45 oz. per square foot, 90% light transmission), and I have AG-19, which I use as a frost blanket. It weighs 0.55 oz. per square yard, provides 4 degrees of freeze protection and has 85% light transmission. Generally, if I can, I use a double layer of it to ensure the plants are thoroughly protected from sub-freezing temperatures. Doubling a 4-degree fabric won't give the plants 8 degrees of protection, but it maybe gives them 6.

My current favorite frost blankets are the two from Dewitt that I have. I have two rolls of Dewitt Ultimate Thermal Blanket. It weighed 3.0 oz. per square yard when I bought the first roll, and I think the retailer still described it as 3.0 oz. when I bought the second roll last year, but now I also see it listed as 2.5 oz. Regardless, it is incredible. By combining 5-gallon jugs filled with water (lined up along the north edge of the raised bed like a wall of water jugs) with the Ultimate Thermal blanket, I put tomato plants in the ground in March of last year, and then babied them through a cold spring where we had 1 to 3 nights of freezing temperatures every week thorough the first of May. I harvested our first ripe tomato on the day before our last official recording of an overnight low of 32 degrees. Any product that has us eating tomatoes while the nights still are in the 30s is well worth having. I used to be happy, long ago, if we got our first early tomatoes harvested in June. Then, as I became a better gardener, I finally got to where we could harvest our first ripe tomatoes in May. Using early planting and freeze protection, we have harvested our first ripe tomatoes in April for the last 6 or 8 years. Being tomato hogs who'd like to eat fresh tomatoes at least 3 times a day every day of the year, we are thrilled that we get to start eating them at the end of April. Using frost blankets makes that possible.

More importantly, though, frost blankets give us a weapon to use to defend our plantings from late frosts and the lightweight floating row covers give us an organic way to keep pests off our plants. Both have become a valuable part of our gardening lives.

Dawn

Sorry Dawn, I didn't even see that the question was addressed to you, and just jumped in and answered it.

Hey Carol,

No need to apologize. You're my sister and you can answer any questions addressed to me anytime you please. It is not going to bother me at all.

And, hey, OldOkie got 2 answers for the price of one. : )

I can't remember if I mentioned this, but Berryhill Drip Irrigation now is selling a frost blanket that gives 12 degrees of protection. Even better, it does it while allowing 50% light transmission. The frost blanket type floating row covers just keep getting better every year.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: GG-51 at Berryhill